Former Rockies slugger Vinny Castilla will get his first taste of managing this summer when he leads the Mexican national team at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“That’s very exciting, man,” Castilla said.

Castilla is Mexico’s career home run leader in the majors, with 320 homers in 16 seasons with Atlanta, Colorado, Tampa Bay, Houston, Washington and San Diego.

The Rockies claimed him off waivers last season so he could retire in a Colorado uniform. The third baseman had his best years with the Rockies, stringing four consecutive seasons (1996-99) with more than 30 home runs and 100 RBIs.

Now retired, he’s serving as a special assistant to Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd, who gave Roberto Mansur, president of the Mexico City Reds and a member of the country’s national selection committee, permission Wednesday to borrow Castilla’s services for the tournament, July 11-19.

Castilla has been serving as a coach at the Rockies’ spring training camp, working mostly with infielders.

“This is the next chapter of his life,” O’Dowd said. “And managing this year for the Mexican national team at the Pan Am Games will be another great experience for him. And it’s good for us, too, to expose him to that and for him to see players from around the world a little bit. He’ll do some scouting for us, and I think that’ll only benefit us.”

Among Castilla’s evolving duties with the Rockies is serving as the club’s first ambassador to Mexico.

Giants: Outfielder Barry Bonds declined to elaborate about death threats he said he’s receiving.

“We’re not going anywhere with that,” Bonds said.

Bonds, 22 home runs from passing Hank Aaron’s career record of 755, told San Francisco’s KGO Radio on Tuesday that he has been receiving threats.

White Sox: Closer Bobby Jenks threw nine pitches in Chicago’s game against the Rockies before being taken out because of tightness in his right shoulder.

Jenks, who led the White Sox with 41 saves last year, will be evaluated today. He doesn’t expect to miss any game action.

Athletics: Outfielder Bobby Kielty needs arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and will be sidelined for three to six weeks.

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